The bird turned its masked face on her. "Ei?"

"'Course," Liya mumbled to herself, "now I guess I'll get sent back to the Archipelago, so..."

The bird reached out and laid its wing very gently on her shoulder, head tilted. "Er," it said, "I do not speak English. Ei, but...you will be all right. You are safe now. We will get you home."

Liya just stared at the bird, trembling with cold and nerves. The icy fog seemed to be closing in around them both. She exhaled a cloud of mist, wordlessly.

She must have shut her eyes for only a moment. She saw Hawk, and behind him a blazing light that he was staring into. There was something wrong with his head, though--it was as though someone had cut pieces of the light out, stamped pale shadows in its place. He turned to look at her just as she became aware that Vlad was saying her name, somewhere, very loudly.

"Liya! Oh, thank Christ. She's awake."

She was too cold to tremble and her skin had gone grey. Yoshi was wrapping his scarf around her head, tucking it into the blanket still wrapped around her; Vlad was half-crouched next to him, peering worriedly at her over his fogged-up glasses. Behind them, half-obscured by the mist, Shinobu was standing over the dead monster, speaking quietly to the two masked people.

"Are you hurt, honey?" Vlad asked. "They said you hit the water..."